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Guard may need more surgery

MSU sophomore guard Korie Lucious may need more surgery on the right foot he injured in the April 6 loss to North Carolina in the national title game. Lucious is expected back for practice in October, coach Tom Izzo said, whether he has more surgery or simply continues with healing that has been much slower than expected. A decision on more surgery will be made within the next week, Izzo said.Lucious broke a bone in his foot late in the game. Teammate Chris Allen also broke a bone in his right foot in the game. Both had surgery four days later and were expected to be back playing in eight weeks. Allen was back on time and is 100 percent now. Lucious remains in a protective boot, able to lift weights but not to shoot or play. “I think he’s got the same issue that the kid from Carolina did,” Izzo said, referring to Marcus Ginyard, who missed last season for the Tar Heels with a foot injury. “On 10 percent of the kids, they just don’t heal as quickly. With Korie now, the negative would be he lost the whole summer. There’s no question he will not play a day in the whole summer. And that is disappointing. “It’s been a hard summer for him, how depressing, because the kid is a gym rat too and wants to play, and everybody else is up here playing.” w Izzo confirmed that MSU has finalized a home-and-home series with Gonzaga, with the Bulldogs visiting Breslin this season. MSU also will play at Texas and at North Carolina, and participate in the four-team Legends Classic in Atlantic City, N.J. The other three are Florida, Rutgers and Massachusetts. w MSU also recently received a trophy from the NCAA for finishing first in the nation in rebounding margin in 2008-09.— Joe Rexrode

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EAST LANSING - Tom Izzo is feeling good about things.

And if that sounds like a "no duh" assessment of a guy just months removed from what was in many ways the crowning weekend of his career, it's important to remember that Izzo didn't get there by smiling and patting backs and focusing on the bright side.

A lot of hard driving got Michigan State basketball to its current position - fresh off a national title game loss to North Carolina, its fifth Final Four in 11 years and a week of emotion and affirmation in Detroit.

The hard driving won't stop. Izzo isn't sure why MSU is considered a favorite to get back to the Final Four with such uncertainty at the center position. But he is sure that the players who will make up a loaded 2009-10 team are having one of the best summers in the program's history.

"I haven't really had a spring and summer that I felt was as productive," Izzo said, "or as focused, or had a number of guys improve like this."

That's why Izzo is feeling good, even though sophomore guard Korie Lucious may need more surgery on the foot he injured in the loss to UNC, and likely won't play again until close to the start of October practice.

The NCAA doesn't allow coaches to run practices in the summer, so players are in the hands of the strength staff, and on their own to play pickup ball. But Izzo gets reports from the players and from strength coach Mike Vorkapich, and he sees who is coming into Breslin to put up shots.

That extra summer work, Izzo has said for years, often makes a big difference during the following season. And the guys who are impressing the most are senior Raymar Morgan and juniors Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen and Durrell Summers.

Morgan is notable because he has been cited by Izzo in the past for not doing enough individual work. Allen and Summers are notable because they've been cited for lacking focus at times.

"I have complained some years that guys didn't do much, that Raymar didn't do much or (Goran) Suton didn't do much," Izzo said. "If you ask me now who hasn't done much, I'd say, 'Korie.' That's usually what happens when you get more than a few getting after it, everyone joins in. You can compare it to the (Mateen) Cleaves (national title) year a little bit as far as, I think this team is closer. I think this team learned from last year."

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At a workout session Thursday at the weight room in MSU's football building, Lucas, Allen and Summers all looked significantly bigger and stronger.

"This summer, more than anything, Raymar and those three juniors are really getting serious," Vorkapich said. "Those juniors, from where they were to where they are now ... I told coach, now they're challenging each other and calling each other out on it."

Departed guard Travis Walton did the calling out and leading for the past three seasons, and Lucas, Morgan and sophomore Draymond Green have done the most to fill that void, Izzo said.

Lucas, the reigning Big Ten player of the year, has embraced the need to take over.

"This is my team now," Lucas said, "so I've got to make sure everybody's working hard. I haven't had to yell at anybody yet. We're on a mission. We want to get back to the Final Four and win it this time. Everybody's just grinding."

They must be. Because Izzo is darn near smiling.

"I've been really impressed with my guys, OK, and how many times do you hear me say that?" he said. "Our spring and summer has been phenomenal, on paper, on looking at progress, on them coming by. Them in here a lot, shooting.

"(On Thursday) I come in and Chris, Kalin and Durrell are up here ringing wet, telling me, 'I've got 500 shots in, I'm getting another thousand up tonight.' " I just can't be disappointed at all, and a lot of years I have been. A lot of years in Ray. Ray's had a phenomenal summer. What does that translate into? Only time will tell on that.

"It sounds like I've been impressed with everybody and I'm gonna get slapped right in the face, but I really have been."